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Earth-Friendly Living

Housing, Dining & Auxiliary Enterprises’ goals are to protect, preserve and regenerate our environment and resources by implementing “Earth Friendly” practices and supporting UCSB on its way to becoming a sustainable community. We provide a safe and healthy living and learning community for student residents at UCSB. We are the largest department on campus and equivalent to a small city in terms of our resource demands (see about us). For that reason, it has become imperative that we strive to be good stewards of the environment and continue to seek new ways to live and act sustainably. Below are examples of how we live out one of our We Are About core values "Being Environmentally Sensitive" on a daily basis: (Please also visit Earth Friendly Dining to learn more about Residential Dining Services' sustainability initiatives.)

Energy & Buildings

Upgrading boilers to ultra efficiency (94%), low emissions, and variable flow (to use the appropriate amount of heat when needed)

Coordinating water savings contests between different buildings, and awarding prizes to winning halls

Installed shower timers in residence halls to save water and remind residents to take 5 minute showers

Turned off outdoor fountains to save water

Installed water saving devices on boiler systems saving thousands of gallons of fresh water per week

Replaced water cooled systems with air cooled systems whenever possible

Installing toilets in new buildings that will use recycled water instead of fresh water

Water use in our residence halls and dining commons is very low per person (28 gallons/day) as compared to other residential users (Goleta is 53 gallons/day, City of Santa Barbara is 63 gallons/day, and California average is 90 gallons/day)

Recycling

Recycling and reusing materials resulting in a >70% reduction of material going to local landfills